Monday, October 14, 2013

If you've read this post, you know that I plan to create two
versions of Tribute- a simple version called "Alpha", and a more
detailed version called "Omega". The primary difference I expect Alpha to have
is the lack of the 12 Function Elements. Effects will be more freeform than
they will be in Omega.

Writing these two versions isn't a matter of just writing a
simple game then making it more complicated- if I want them to be compatible, I
need to have Omega done first, so I can simplify it for Alpha. I need to know
how I'm handling things so I can generalize the rules.

In the coming posts, I plan to start putting up the Element
rules I'm working on for Tribute Omega. Each of the current (34) Elements will
have its own post containing only its rules, which I'll try to keep to one page
worth of information (in 9 point Font). As
I write each of them up, I'll make each Element's entry in the Summary of the Elements post into a hyperlink to its rules page. Each entry will serve as a
reference that will be edited in the future if and when it needs to change.

I expect this process to create a lot of changes to what
I've previously explained regarding the Elements. I will be trying to make
things more elegant, and shore up issues as I find them. I may need to change,
combine, or alter the Elements, so be warned. It might get messy.

I'll continue to post about other game issues throughout the
process as they come up.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

I've had to alter the core mechanic to address an issue. I won't link to the old mechanic to prevent confusion, but the current version is at the end of this post. The only thing that's changed is how Profit and Waste are
calculated. If you just want to know how things have changed, skip to The
Changes, below.

I like the way the core mechanic originally turned out, except for one issue
that kept nagging at me. In situations where you had to roll high to succeed,
you were more likely to get a lot of Profit even if you barely rolled high
enough to meet or exceed the opposition's roll.

To meet this roll, you'd need to get a 6 on your highest FOCUS
die, and a 1 on your highest BURDEN Die. This means that you would automatically
get 3 Profit on your Test if you succeeded, because every FOCUS die would meet
or exceed the BURDEN roll of 1.

So fighting stronger opponents would make it less likely to hit,
but more likely to kill them in one blow. David and Goliath notwithstanding, it
doesn't feel right for every genre.

With the help of zedturtle on RPGnet (again), and Bloody Stupid
Johnson on TheRPGSite, I think the problem is solved.

Both of them suggested that instead of determining Profit and
Waste based on the highest die in the opposite pool, that you find Profit by
comparing to the FOCUS die that you use for determining success and failure.
Similarly, you'd find Waste based on the BURDEN die that helps to determine
success and failure. This has the side effect of making it more likely to get both
Profit and Waste on a Test, which can mitigate the issue.

Bloody Stupid Johnson further suggested that you be allowed to
choose which FOCUS and BURDEN dice you'd use for success and failure. For
example, if you rolled [3,4,5,6] on your
FOCUS dice, you'd get to choose between using 6 and getting no Profit, and
using 3, and getting 3 Profit, or anything in between. It wouldn't be an arbitrary decision,
obviously, you'd choose the most optimal option.

This would mean that in order to succeed sometimes, you'd have to
choose to take more Waste and less Profit.

Further, it solved the problem- you'd be less likely to get Profit
on a Test that you needed to roll high on, and vice versa.

This was very cool so far, but I realized that in situations where
you needed to roll a high Attribute modifier, such as +5 on d6s, the rest of your BURDEN
dice would be Waste. This is because to get a +5 on d6s, you'd need FOCUS [6]
and BURDEN [1]. Every value on a d6 meets or exceeds 1, so any extra BURDEN
dice would automatically be Waste.

Doing it this way just reversed my initial problem, and I wanted a
chance for an unqualified success on a difficult roll. Sure, Profit and Waste can cancel each other out, but
you can't always rely on that, especially when you have more BURDEN than FOCUS.
Sometimes Waste would be a foregone conclusion, and I wanted to avoid that.

So I altered things so that you determine Profit and Waste based
on the dice that exceed the dice you
choose, rather than allowing dice that meet
or exceed the values you choose.

This means that if you rolled FOCUS [3,4,5,6] and BURDEN [1,1] and
you needed a +5, you could get it with no Waste. There's no chance of Profit
when you need a maximum roll, but that's acceptable. The opposed rolls in the
system allow for more situations where you will be able to Profit against a
more powerful foe.

My favorite aspect of this version of the mechanic is that when fighting
stronger foes, you're more likely to deal less of an Effect to them, and when
you're fighting weaker ones, you're more likely to deal more of an Effect.
That's exactly how I wanted the game to work.

So, without further ado, here's the new core mechanic. Again, the basics
are the same, but calculating Profit and Waste are different.

The Basic
Mechanic, for Review

Making Tests

When you make a Test with no modifiers for aptitude, situation, or handicaps,

1. Roll 1 white "FOCUS" die, and 1 black "BURDEN" die.

2. Subtract the rolled value of the black BURDEN die from the value of the
white FOCUS die.

3. Add the final value of your test to your appropriate Attribute's Rank.

4. Compare the result to your opposition's Result.

5. If your result is higher you Win the test, if your Result is lower you Fail,
and if your results are equal, you Match. When you Win, only you apply your Effect, and
when you Match, both parties get to apply their Effects.

FOCUS Dice

When you are above average at something or the situation make something easier,
you receive up to 5 additional white FOCUS dice. Add these dice to the 1 that
you would otherwise roll for an unmodified test . This gives a possible total
of 6 white dice. Roll them and choose any die you like as your
FOCUS die, and then perform steps 2-5 as you would for a Test without
modification.There is an incentive to choose the lowest value you can that allows for success because of the way Profit works.

BURDEN Dice

When you are below average at something or the situation makes something
harder, you receive up to 5 additional black BURDEN Dice. Add these dice to the
1 that you would otherwise roll for an unmodified test. This gives a possible
total of 6 black dice. Roll them and choose any value you like as your BURDEN
die, and then perform steps 2-5 as you would for a Test without Modification.There is an incentive to choose the highest value you can that allows for success because of the way Waste works.

You can have up to 6 FOCUS dice and 6 BURDEN Dice at once, for a total of 12
dice to be rolled.

The
Changes

Profit

When you roll a Test, choose any FOCUS die
that you like to serve as your FOCUS die for determining success or failure.
There is an incentive to choose the lowest value that allows you to succeed.

Any other FOCUS
dice with values that exceed the chosen
die are considered Profit. Dice that match are not Profit.

Profit can be added to the Rank of any Features in the Effect you're Testing.
When an Effect has multiple Features, you can divide your Profit dice among
those Features any way you like.

Profit can't raise an Effect or Feature of an Effect's final Rank beyond 5.

Profit can also be used to activate certain bonus Effects altogether, such as
knocking a foe backwards when hitting them with a club. Finally, Profit can be given to the opposition, where it serves as Waste. This is the only option for using Profit when you Fail. The GM can use it for his or her NPCs or activate negative events in the environment. Waste

When you roll a Test, choose any BURDEN die
that you like to serve as your BURDEN die for determining success or failure.
There is an incentive to choose the highest value that allows you to succeed.

Any other BURDEN
dice with values that exceed the chosen
die are considered Waste. Dice that match are not Waste.

Waste is subtracted from the Rank of any Features in the Effect you're Testing.
When an Effect has multiple Features, you can divide your Waste dice among
those Features any way you like.

Waste can't lower an Effect or Feature of an Effect's final Rank below 0
(Non-existent).

Waste can also be used to activate negative Effects or complications in the
scene such as breaking the table that you're fighting on top of, or starting a
fire.

Finally, Waste can be given to the opposition, where it serves as Profit. This is the only option for using Waste when you Fail. The GM can use it for his or her NPCs or activate positive events in the environment. Getting Both

It is possible to receive both Profit and Waste to your action. Profit can
cancel Waste out on a 1 for 1 basis at your option, but you can also apply both
to separate Features of Effects. An example of this might be adding profit to
the damaging Feature of an Attack, but subtracting from its duration or taking
a consequence.

Friday, October 11, 2013

As discussed previously on the blog, all Tests you make use
one or more Attributes. The choice of which Attribute is applied is based on
which Attribute governs a given Function. For example, when you have an Effect that has
a VOID Function, you add your FORCE Attribute to the final modifier that the
Dice give you in order to determine whether you Win or Fail the Test.

This is straightforward for Effects that contain Functions
that all use the same Attribute, but what about Effects that use different Attributes?
Let's say you have the following Effect:

This is a flaming SHIELD Power that attempts to deal damage
to anyone who comes in Contact with it. BLOCK
is governed by COUNTER, and VOID is governed by FORCE.

To make a Test like this, you'd simply roll your FOCUS dice along with any BURDEN Dice the Test called for (a default of 1), and find your
Attribute modifier as usual.Then you'd
apply this modifier to each Attribute used in the Effect separately to determine whether
each set of Features using those Attributes went off properly. In this example,
you'd apply the modifier to your COUNTER Attribute to determine whether the
BLOCK worked, and then apply the same modifier to your FORCE Attribute to
determine whether the VOID worked.

Example:Ardos has a spell up- the SHIELD described
above. It's drawing on the COUNTER and FORCE of his mind. His mind's COUNTER is
+1 and his mind FORCE is +3. When he is attacked by a club-wielding dwarf-troll,
he rolls his 3 FOCUS dice against the Attack and gets (FOCUS 6,2,1 and BURDEN 2).
This gives a +4 Attribute modifier and 1 Profit.

The GM is delivering a simple VOID "Body" Effect,
and the dwarf-troll rolls a modified +6 when he adds his FORCE in.

Adding his roll of +4 to his COUNTER of +1, Ardos gets a +5
for his BLOCK Feature. It isn't good enough to work. He then adds his roll to
his FORCE of +3, for a result of +7 for the ATTACK Feature.

The Troll has his own SHIELD in the form of his hide, so the
GM rolls his defense- separately because it is the result of a separate Effect. He gets a +5, so the +7 VOID Effect gets through. Ardos adds his Profit to the VOID Effect.

The end result is that the SHIELD doesn't hinder the blow of
the club, but the dwarf-troll pays a price for his aggression.

To recap, when an Effect has Features that use different
Attributes, roll once, and apply the same modifier to all of the Attributes
being used. Then spread the Profit and Waste between the Effect's Feature's as
desired. Only when Effects are truly separate should you roll separately.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

This post contains the Tribute benchmark table I spent
the weekend working on. Development on the game started with a similar table I
made a few years back. I have no idea how the table will render ona mobile device, so it's probably best to
view it on a computer.

I ended up working on this one as a side effect of trying
to figure out how RELAY worked in the game.

I had a long talk with another game designer and friend
of mine, Barak Blackburn. He wrote Capes, Cowls, and Villains Foul which is a
very exciting light supers RPG meant to emulate the feel of comic books.
Check it out.

Anyway, Barak was helping me with movement issues in my
game, and he was strongly promoting the idea that I not include benchmarks in
Tribute. His case was that if I included them they would become a straitjacket
for some GMs, and that some players wouldn't be able to see past them when
playing the game. I considered what he said, but I decided to include them
anyway. I'm of the mindset that if there's an elegant way to give
concrete information about something in game, it's preferable to abstractions
that are prone to confusion. I guess I'm more engineer than artist.

I think that in the long run benchmarks will enhance play
rather than hindering it. In no particular order, having them allows:

People other than me to stat up things that other people
will agree with. The internet becomes a sourcebook.

Concrete measurement and use of a game mat, if desired.

The same stats to have different consequences at
different reality levels.

The dice to inform game play with actual measurements,
such as how far an object flies.

Still, I fully intend to see Tribute used to model
completely alien concepts and worlds with no ties to our own reality. I just
want to set a good baseline in modeling reality first. Once you know how to do
that, you can do the stranger stuff- you can "eff" the ineffable, and
hopefully have everyone at the table agree on what things mean.

Credit Where it's
Due

The Mayfair Exponential Game System, or MEGS, is often
cited as a brilliant way of allowing characters with a range of capabilities to
interact meaningfully. I'm blatantly ripping it off (with credit) for Tribute.
I made a few changes, but the principle is the same.

In MEGS, everything you interact with is given a Rank,
and a given Rank can correspond to a value, such as 100 lbs. In DC Heroes, the
supers version of the system, every +1 to rank represents a x2 increase in the
actual value you're talking about, such that if Rank 0 represented 100 lbs.,
Rank 1 would represent 200 lbs., Rank 2 would represent 400 lbs. and so on.

Multiplication of actual values is done by adding their
Ranks together. Division is done by Subtracting their Ranks. This works like an
old-fashioned slide rule, and is very handy for things like calculating the
distance you can throw an object (Your Rank - the Rank of the object's mass=
Rank of the distance), etc.

Another game using the system, Underground, which I
haven't seen, uses a different progression whereby each +1 to Rank represents
about a 1.26 multiplier. This means that every +3 equals roughly a doubling,
every +7 equals multiplying by 5, and +10 equals multiplying by 10.The same rules for multiplication and
division apply.

Tribute is using the latter progression. My values for
the various benchmarks are different because of the needs of the system, and I
use metric measurements because they make more sense to me and make for a
neater table. To convert from metric, you can assume that 1 meter equals about a
yard, and 1 kg equals about 2 lbs. This is about estimation, not exact values.

Making sense of
the Table:

The only firm benchmark on this table is the "Number of
Men" Rating. The use of the word
"Men" is intended the way Tolkien used it- to represent a member of
the human species of either sex, and does not refer to the male sex
specifically. One "Man" is a mythological human who is average in everything.

It's a useful benchmark for things that don't easily lend themselves
to concrete measurement in other units. Rank 5 "FORCE of Mind" means
that you have the Intellect of 3 average people combined.

Number of Men is also useful for finding out the effective rank of a group of collaborators. Simply add the Number of Men of all parties, find the corresponding Rank, and make a check with the leader's FOCUS and the total BURDEN of all participants.

The other benchmark values are strongly approximated (especially
when it comes to Time and Data)- they are rounded to the nearest neat unit when
possible, and are then put onto the "# of Men" progression. This
means that when it's possible to shift from seconds to minutes, for example,
the progression moves on from 1 minute rather than continuing to use seconds.
The results are somewhat different than they would otherwise be, but again, this
table is meant to allow you to estimate conversions
between benchmarks and Ranks, and not to find exact values. The apparent
precision in the table should never be considered to be written in stone. When
using this Table with benchmarks and a value falls between two Ranks, use the
lower of the two Ranks. A given Rank represents a range of results from the
listed value to just before the next higher one.

The table's built on the assumption of a d4 Reality die (a
range of -3 to +3). After all, games that use a d4 will be the ones most
concerned with accuracy in benchmarks.

Values get fuzzier the further you get from mundane human
range. For example, it's possible even in a mundane reality level for a unique
human being to throw a football (Rank -15 mass) 300 meters (Rank 28 distance),
which exceeds World Records (non-NFL) by 2 Ranks. The record was allegedly set in
1934 by George Lansborough at 195 meters.

I wanted to keep values conservative, but it wasn't
possible if I wanted other human ranges to work right. Still, if the Guinness Book of World Records is
to be believed, it's somewhat conceivable. Especially if you remember that Rank
5 is meant to represent a World Class Attribute, and getting such a roll would require a lot of FOCUS in throwing, little to no BURDEN, a perfect roll, and full activation of a +5 DRIVE. Sports
legendry in the making.

As you read the table, keep in mind the following rules.
The game will assume the following:

Rank 0:
Average human capability or measurement. As a result on the dice, it represents
a casual effort for a normal human.

Rank 3: The
highest an average human can roll on a Mundane Reality Level (d4s) Test without
an activated DRIVE (which can add up to +5 to your Attribute Rank)

Rank 5: The
realistic human maximum Attribute Rank. This is an optional cap to Attributes
for humans.

Rank 8: The
maximum that an average human can roll with d4s and an activated DRIVE of 5, or
the highest value that a human with maximum Attributes without DRIVE can roll.

Rank 13: The
highest amount that a human with maximum Attributes can roll with an activated
DRIVE of 5.

Table 1: Tribute Benchmarks

Rank

# of Men

Mass

Mass Example

Distance

Time

Volume

Language

Data

-10

1/10

1.25 kg

.05 m

.1 sec

.2 m3

1 letter

1 bytes

-9

1/8

1.5 kg

.06 m

.125 sec

.25 m3

1.25 letters

1.25 bytes

-8

1/6

2 kg

.08 m

.15 sec

.3 m3

1.5 letters

1.5 bytes

-7

1/5

2.5 kg

.1 m

.2 sec

.4 m3

2 letters

2 bytes

-6

1/4

3 kg

.125 m

.25 sec

.5 m3

2.5 letters

2.5 bytes

-5

1/3

4 kg

Human Head

.15 m

.3 sec

.6 m3

3 letters

3 bytes

-4

2/5

5 kg

.2 m

.4 sec

.8 m3

4 letters

4 bytes

-3

1/2

6 kg

.25 m

.5 sec

1 m3

5 letters

5 bytes

-2

6/10

8 kg

Koala

.3 m

.6 sec

1.25 m3

6 letters

6 bytes

-1

8/10

10 kg

Farm Sack of Potatoes

.4 m

.8 sec

1.5 m3

8 letters

8 Bytes

0

1

12.5 kg

Cooking gas cylinder

.5 m

1 sec

2 m3

1 word

10 bytes

1

1 1/4

15 kg

Stowable Travel suitcase

.6 m

1.25 sec

2.5 m3

1 1/4 words

12.5 bytes

2

1 1/2

20 kg

Suit of plate armor

.8 m

1.5 sec

3 m3

1 1/2 words

15 bytes

3

2

25 kg

Industrial bag of laundry

1 m

2 sec

4 m3

2 words

20 bytes

4

2 1/2

30 kg

9 -year-old child

1.25 m

2.5 sec

5 m3

2 and 1/2 words

25 bytes

5

3

40 kg

Medium ship's anchor

1.5 m

3 sec

6 m3

3 words

30 bytes

6

4

50 kg

Small Adult Sheep

2 m

4 sec

8 m3

4 words

40 bytes

7

5

60 kg

2.5 m

5 sec

10 m3

5 words

50 bytes

8

6

80 kg

Human Adult

3 m

6 sec

12 1/2 m3

6 words

60 bytes

9

8

100 kg

4 m

8 sec

15 m3

8 words

80 bytes

10

10

125 kg

5 m

10 sec

20 m3

10 words

100 bytes

11

12 1/2

150 kg

6 m

12.5 sec

25 m3

12 1/2 words

125 bytes

12

15

200 kg

8 m

15 sec

30 m3

15 words

150 bytes

13

20

250 kg

10 m

20 sec

40 m3

20 words

200 bytes

14

25

300 kg

Big Male Lion

12.5 m

25 sec

50 m3

25 words

250 bytes

15

30

400 kg

15 m

30 sec

60 m3

30 words

300 bytes

16

40

500 kg

Cessna 150, horse

20 m

40 sec

80 m3

40 words

400 bytes

17

50

600kg

25 m

50 sec

100 m3

50 words

500 bytes

18

60

800 kg

30 m

1 min

125 m3

60 words

600 bytes

19

80

1 t

40 m

1.25 min

150 m3

80 words

800 bytes

20

100

1.25 t

50 m

1.5 min

200 m3

100 words

1 KB

21

125

1.5 t

Sedan Car

60 m

2 min

250 m3

125 words

1.25 KB

22

150

2 t

Light Truck

80 m

2.5 min

300 m3

150 words

1.5 KB

23

200

2.5 t

100 m

3 min

400 m3

200 words

2 KB

24

250

3 t

125 m

4 min

500 m3

250 words

2.5 KB

25

300

4 t

150 m

5 min

600 m3

300 words

3 KB

26

400

5 t

200 m

6 min

800 m3

400 words

4 KB

27

500

6 t

250 m

8 min

1 km3

500 words

5 KB

28

600

8 t

300 m

10 min

1.25 km3

600 words

6 KB

29

800

10 t

400 m

12 1/2 min

1.5 km3

800 words

8 KB

30

1,000

12.5 t

500 m

15 min

2 km3

1,000 words

10 KB

31

1,250

15 t

600 m

20 min

2.5 km3

1,250 words

12.5 KB

32

1,500

20 t

800 m

25 min

3 km3

1,500 words

15 KB

33

2,000

25 t

1 km

30 min

4 km3

2,000 words

20 KB

34

2,500

30 t

1.25 km

40 min

5 km3

2,500 words

25 KB

35

3,000

40 t

1.5km

50 min

6 km3

3,000 words

30 KB

36

4,000

50 t

2 km

1 hour

8 km3

4,000 words

40 KB

37

5,000

60 t

2.5km

1 1/4 hours

10 km3

5,000 words

50 KB

38

6,000

80 t

3 km

1 1/2 hours

12 1/2 km3

6,000 words

60 KB

39

8,000

100 t

Blue Whale

4 km

2 hours

15 km3

8,000 words

80 KB

40

10,000

125 t

5 km

2 1/2 hours

20 km3

10,000 words

100 KB

41

12,500

150 t

Spruce Goose (Plane)

6 km

3 hours

25 km3

12,500 words

125 KB

42

15,000

200 t

Statue of Liberty

8 km

4 hours

30 km3

15,000 words

150 KB

43

20,000

250 t

10 km

5 hours

40 km3

20,000 words

200 KB

44

25,000

300 t

12.5 km

6 hours

50 km3

25,000 words

250 KB

45

30,000

400 t

15 km

8 hours

60 km3

30,000 words

300 KB

46

40,000

500 t

20 km

10 hours

80 km3

40,000 words

400 KB

47

50,000

600 t

25 km

12.5 hours

100 km3

50,000 words

500 KB

48

60,000

800 t

30 km

15 hours

125 km3

60,000 words

600 KB

49

80,000

1,000 t

40 km

20 hours

150 km3

80,0000 words

800 KB

50

100,000

1,200 t

50 km

1 Day

200 km3

100,000 words

1 MB

51

125,000

1,500 t

60 km

1.25 days

250 km3

125,000 words

1.25 MB

52

150,000

2,000 t

80 km

1.5 days

300 km3

150,000 words

1.5 MB

53

200,000

2,500 t

100 km

2 days

400 km3

200,000 words

2 MB

54

250,000

3,000 t

125 km

2.5 days

500 km3

250,000 words

2.5 MB

55

300,000

4,000 t

150 km

3 days

600 km3

300,000 words

3 MB

56

400,000

5,000 t

200 km

4 days

800 km3

400,000 words

4 MB

57

500,000

6,000 t

250 km

5 days

1,000 km3

500,000 words

5 MB

58

600,000

8,000 t

300 km

6 days

1,250 km3

600,000 words

6 MB

59

800,000

10,000 t

Eiffel Tower

400 km

8 days

1,500 km3

800,000 words

8 MB

60

1,000,000

12,500 t

500 km

10 days

2,000 km3

1,000,000 words

10 MB

61

1,250,000

15,000 t

600 km

12.5 days

2,500 km3

1,250,000 words

12.5 MB

62

1,500,000

20,000 t

800 km

15 days

3,000 km3

1,500,000 words

15 MB

63

2,000,000

30,000 t

1,000 km

20 days

4,000 km3

2,000,000 words

20 MB

64

2,500,000

40,000 t

1,250 km

1 month

5,000 km3

2,500,000 words

25 MB

65

3,000,000

50,000 t

1,500 km

1.5 months

6,000 km3

3,000,000 words

30 MB

66

4,000,000

60,000 t

2,000 km

2 Months

8,000 km3

4,000,000 words

40 MB

67

5,000,000

80,000 t

2,500 km

2.5 months

10,000 km3

5,000,000 words

50 MB

68

6,000,000

100,000 t

Nimitz Aircraft Carrier

3,000 km

3 months

12,500 km3

6,000,000 words

60 MB

69

8,000,000

125,000 t

4,000 km

4 months

15,000 km3

8,000,000 words

80 MB

70

10,000,000

150,000 t

5,000 km

5 months

20,000 km3

10,000,000 words

100 MB

71

12,500,000

200,000 t

6,000 km

6 months

25,000 km3

12,500,000 words

125 MB

72

15,000,000

250,000 t

8,000 km

8 months

30,000 km3

15,000,000 words

150 MB

73

20,000,000

300,000 t

10,000 km

10 months

40,000 km3

20,000,000 words

200 MB

74

25,000,000

400,000 t

12,500 km

1 year

50,000 km3

25,000,000 words

250 MB

75

30,000,000

500,000 t

15,000 km

1.25 year

60,000 km3

30,000,000 words

300 MB

76

40,000,000

600,000 t

20,000 km

1.5 years

80,000 km3

40,000,000 words

400 MB

77

50,000,000

800,000 t

25,000 km

2 years

100,000 km3

50,000,000 words

500 MB

78

60,000,000

1,000,000 t

30,000 km

2.5 years

125,000 km3

60,000,000 words

600 MB

79

80,000,000

1,250,000 t

40,000 km

3 years

150,000 km3

80,000,000 words

800 MB

80

100,000,000

1,500,000 t

50,000 km

4 years

200,000 km3

100,000,000 words

1 GB

81

125,000,000

2,000,000 t

60,000 km

5 years

250,000 km3

125,000,000 words

1.25 GB

82

150,000,000

2,500,000 t

80,000 km

6 years

300,000 km3

150,000,000 words

1.5 GB

83

200,000,000

3,000,000 t

100,000 km

8 years

400,000 km3

200,000,000 words

2 GB

84

250,000,000

4,000,000 t

125,000 km

10 years

500,000 km3

250,000,000 words

2.5 GB

85

300,000,000

5,000,000 t

150,000 km

12.5 years

600,000 km3

300,000,000 words

3 GB

86

400,000,000

6,000,000 t

200,000 km

15 years

800,000 km3

400,000,000 words

4 GB

87

500,000,000

8,000,000 t

250,000 km

20 years

1,000,000 km3

500,000,000 words

5 GB

88

600,000,000

10,000,000 t

300,000 km (1 light-second)

25 years

1,250,000 km3

600,000,000 words

6 GB

89

800,000,000

12,500,000 t

400,000 km(1.25 light-seconds)

30 years

1,500,000 km3

800,000,000 words

8 GB

90

1,000,000,000

15,000,000 t

500,000 km (1.5 light-seconds)

40 years

2,000,000 km3

1,000,000,000 words

10 GB

91

1,250,000,000

20,000,000 t

600,000 km (2 light-seconds)

50 years

2,500,000 km3

1,250,000,000 words

12.5 GB

92

1,500,000,000

25,000,000 t

800,000 km (2.5 light-seconds)

60 years

3,000,000 km3

1,500,000,000 words

15 GB

93

2,000,000,000

30,000,000 t

1,000,000 km (3 light-seconds)

80 years

4,000,000 km3

2,000,000,000 words

20 GB

94

2,500,000,000

40,000,000 t

1,250,000 km (4 light-seconds)

100 years

5,000,000 km3

2,500,000,000 words

25 GB

95

3,000,000,000

50,000,000 t

1,500,000 km (5 light-seconds)

125 years

6,000,000 km3

3,000,000,000 words

30 GB

96

4,000,000,000

60,000,000 t

2,000,000 km (6 light-seconds)

150 years

8,000,000 km3

4,000,000,000 words

40 GB

97

5,000,000,000

1,000,000,000 t

2,500,000 km (8 light-seconds)

200 years

10,000,000 km3

5,000,000,000 words

50 GB

98

6,000,000,000

1,250,000,000 t

3,000,000 km (10 light-seconds)

250 years

12,500,000 km3

6,000,000,000 words

60 GB

99

8,000,000,000

1,500,000,000 t

4,000,000 km (12.5 light-seconds)

300 years

15,000,000 km3

8,000,000,000 words

80 GB

100

10,000,000,000

2,000,000,000 t

5,000,000 km (15 light-seconds)

400 years

20,000,000 km3

10,000,000,000 words

100 GB

The Volume column is in red because I'm not sure about
which value should line up with 0. I chose 2 m3 because it's a rough
estimation of a human body occupying space on a battlemat.

Benchmarking
things on your own

Benchmarking is straightforward. You can take a statement
like "He has the strength of 10 Men" and find its Rank on the table.
Of course, you can use numerical values if they line up to what the table
measures.

Google Search has a feature wherein you can type something like
"34 lbs. in kg" and it will calculate the result for you. That has
proven very useful.

If you want to create a new column on the table, start with a fact that has a number attached to it like "The average person can...". Decide whether this fact refers to an average person's casual effort (Rank 0), Decent Effort (Rank 3), Extreme Effort (Rank 8) or somewhere in between. Place the rating provided in that space, and calculate the other values based on it, using the Number of Men progression. It's best to round the value you're placing to the nearest Number of Men value for consistency.

Going off the
Scale

Say your character wants to throw the Earth at the Moon.
What would she need to roll?

Look up the mass of the object. Google says that Earth's
mass is 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons.

Find the largest Rank that is close to the first few
digits. In this case, it's Rank 98.

Count the zeros in the nearest Rank on the table. Mass
for Rank 98 has 9 zeros.

Count the zeros in the value of the object's mass. There
are 21 zeros in the Earth's mass.

Subtract 9 from 21 to find how many more zeros the
Earth's mass has. The result is 12.

Multiply your Result (12) by 10 to find out how much
higher than 98 the Earth's Mass Rank is. It's 120 higher than 98.

Add 120 to 98 to find the roll you'd need to achieve to
move the Earth half a meter per second (rank 0). The Rank for this is 218.

Throwing it all the way to the Moon is another matter. The
Moon's distance on average is about Rank 89 (384403 km).
You'd need to roll 89 points higher on the roll (Rank 307) to throw the Earth to
the Moon within the space of a second.

Ignoring the gravity of the sun, a collision would eventually
happen even with Rank 218 (An object in motion stays in motion...). It just might take a very long time. You probably wouldn't have to
do all of this for most situations. I plan to include expanded tables in an appendix
in the book.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or ideas for benchmarks that I should add to the table, feel free to leave them in the comments.

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About Me

I'm a writer and game designer. I've had two RPG books published for the d20 System- the Morningstar Campaign Setting, and The Complete Guide to Fey. I'm working on a new generic game system called Tribute.

I sometimes do stand up comedy at the open mic level, but I haven't done it in a while.